Jeremy Clarkson has warned of the dangers of driverless cars after he was nearly killed in one

He issued the stark warning as Philip Hammond prepared to announce changes to regulations to allow developers to test self-driving cars on UK roads for the first time.

Clarkson wrote in the Sunday Times magazine: “I drove a car the other day which has a claim of autonomous capability and twice in the space of 50 miles on the M4 it made a mistake, a huge mistake, which could have resulted in death.

“We have to be very careful legally, so I’m not going to say which one.”

He said the incidents convinced him the technology was still “a very long way off”, adding: “For now, we’re miles away from it.”